Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)

The Peace Portal is an initiative of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). GPPAC is a global civil society-led network which seeks to build an international consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict. It was established in 2003 in response to the call made by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for an international conference of civil society organisations working in the field of conflict prevention in his 2001 report Prevention of Armed Conflict . Since holding its Global Conference in 2005, GPPAC has worked to strengthen civil society networks for peace and security by linking local, national, regional, and global levels of action; to establish effective engagement with governments, the UN system and regional organisations; and to carry out projects within the five main programme areas identified in its Global Work Plan (2007-2010).

The Global Partnership consists of fifteen regional networks, each of which has its own Regional Action Agenda and Work Plan and participates in activities at the global level. The Regional Action Agendas fed into People Building Peace: A Global Action Agenda for the Prevention of Violent Conflict - which incorporated input from more than one thousand organisations around the world and outlines key priorities for change. The final document was presented to the UN in July 2005 during the Global Conference From Reaction to Prevention: Civil Society Forging Partnerships to Prevent Violent Conflict and Build Peace, which was held at UN Headquarters and organised by GPPAC in partnership with the UNDPA. Since then, GPPAC has implemented work plans based on the Action Agendas.

GPPAC is governed by an International Steering Group which consists of representatives from all regions and a number of international NGOs. Its five main programmes are developed and run by member-driven Working Groups that are coordinated by the Global Secretariat, formerly known as the European Centre for Conflict Prevention (ECCP) in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The Peace Portal is an initiative of the GPPAC Foundation supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and the City of The Hague. The Peace Portal has been developed in partnership with other civil society organisations, inside and outside the Netherlands.